Articulation
by WeBuiltThePyramids
Summary: "I don't enjoy physical contact. Everyone's always hugging me. I bump shoulders with people in crowded spaces and I'm uncomfortable. I believe...heh, that you once likened my hugs to being in a Leper Colony. But not when it's you. It feels good, when you touch me." Walter and Paige. Oneshot.


**Someone on Tumblr sent me: Request: Waige first kiss 333 and at first, I didn't think I could do it. I'd tried to write it before, and I was never able to come up with anything that I liked. This took me several hours, but it's my favorite of anything I've tried so far (and the only scenario where I actually got them to lock lips before giving up out of frustration!) so I hope whoever requested this and whoever else reads it likes it too!**

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Walter had thought he was alone until he heard that voice. "Hey."

He looked up from his magazine. "Hey, it's..." he looked at the clock. "Very late."

"Toby said you wanted to talk to me."

"I...I didn't tell Toby...that...but if you want," he said, recovering, "we could go over the out of pocket expenses and determine..."

She sank down on the couch next to him. "I got the impression he didn't say anything to you," she said. "But he implied it was important. Are you keeping something from me?"

"What? No."

"Yet that question flustered you," she said, smiling. "What is it, Walter?"

Toby's conversation about taking risks flooded through Walter's head. Drew was visiting this weekend, probably to share more stories about him and Paige in college, a topic that always agitated Walter to no end. "Ah, look," he said. "Here's the thing, and you might laugh, but, uh..."

She cocked her head. "Yes?"

"I care about you," he said carefully, clearing his throat.

She smiled softly. "I know. You have such a big heart, Walter. You may claim you don't have feelings, but you care about all of us, and we all know it, believe me."

"No," Walter said. "I mean..." he trailed off, looking frustrated.

Her voice was gentle. "What?"

There was a long pause.

"I care about you _differently_ than I care about them," he said finally. "And it's good...for a while, and then Toby draws attention to it and then I'm confused because this isn't something that I understand. But it's there." He finally looked at her again. "It's there. And it's different, and I don't know how to articulate that."

She blinked, looking a bit surprised. "I won't make fun of you for trying." She smiled. "In fact, uh, I might like hearing whatever it is you have to say."

He cleared his throat again. "Um, well..." he turned his hands face up as he aimed his gaze just off her eyes. "I don't enjoy physical contact. Everyone's always hugging me. I bump shoulders with people in crowded spaces and I'm uncomfortable. I believe...heh, that you once likened my hugs to being in a Leper Colony. But not when it's you," he said, momentarily making eye contact. "It feels..._good_, when you touch me. When you pat my shoulder, or take my hand. I find myself wanting those moments to last longer, when logic says I should feel unpleasant because they happened. And..." once again he cleared his throat, shifting his weight and once again briefly making eye contact. "And sometimes I'll be, uh, stressed. About work, or Megan, or...or whatever. Then you walk in the room and..." he shrugged. "You have a calming presence, Paige. I get this sense that things are going to be okay, even though it makes no sense that you being in the same room as me would, would cure Megan or make the bomber suddenly have a change of heart and deactivate the explosives." He gave a little laugh at the stupidity of the logic. "But, uh..." he paused, as if consciously trying to _not_ clear his throat. "Then there's Drew."

"Drew?" Her posture had been relaxing as she listened to him, as if she was melting into the couch, but now her eyes flashed and she stiffened, suspicious as to why his name would come up in a conversation like this.

"It's..." he shook his head vigorously. "It's a ridiculous envy." Paige cocked her head. "Whenever he mentions anything about your relationship, I get...I wonder..." he cleared his throat. "It is agitating to me that he knows all these things about you, he knew you when you were younger, and he's got all this history with you, because you're..." he made eye contact again, "it upsets me that he got those extra years of knowing you, and I...did not. It is...it is jealousy...that I feel. I rarely have cause to be jealous of anyone, of course, but when it comes to Drew, I am. Not of his career, or his intelligence, but the one way that his life has been superior to mine is...you entered his first."

Paige shook her head slowly back and forth. "Walter," she said in disbelief. "That was all _so_ incredibly sweet."

"That's good, because those are the facts," Walter said carefully, "and my intention was not to appear crass."

She smiled. "And you said you didn't know how to articulate," she said, cocking her head.

"Oh, that was...satisfactory? You...you understood?"

"I think so." She reached out for one of his hands, curling her fingers around his. She felt him react, his thumb rubbing her skin like she'd once told him to do with someone else. She looked over at him, but he wasn't looking back at her; instead his eyes were trained toward their contact. "I think I understand." She tipped her head, trying to get a view of his eyes as they continued to look at their hands. "Walter?" He looked at her, and she was encouraged at the way his eyes, not completely open, flickered down to her lips despite his clear intention of holding her gaze. Paige inhaled slowly, feeling shaky. "Tell me if I understand."

She hesitated for the briefest instant, then leaned forward, her eyes falling shut in the same graceful motion as she put her lips against his.

She both heard and felt his sharp intake of breath at this new touch, then he was shifting his weight, kissing her back, catching her bottom lip between his. Perhaps finally understanding the concept, he placed his free hand on her leg, right where her skirt ended, the tops of his fingers resting on the fabric and the rest against her skin. She silently suggested they deepen the kiss. Walter silently agreed, and Paige remembered the night she talked him through flirting with Sima, how for a few moments when he had forgotten himself and spoken to her, told her he loved having her voice in his ear, and everything had blurred together and she forgot where she was, until Sima's voice jolted her back to the harsh reality. Everything was blurring again, spinning around them, but this time it was safe, no one else was there, no one's life was at risk, it was just the two of them at the center.

For Walter, that effect wasn't even new to him the time with Sima. If his life depended on it he couldn't have told anyone any of his original observations of the house or guests that had been at the party the night he and Paige had danced. Everything was a golden abstract in his mind except for her, wearing a smile and a backless dress, in his arms in a way that was formal enough for him to remain long enough to realize that he was enjoying the closeness. He'd behaved dangerously that night, but there was no such danger today. Today it really _was _just him and her, alone in the garage, and he felt her kiss from head to toe and found himself moving his hand from her leg to her hip, wanting to tug her closer but unable to come up with an efficient means of doing so with them both sitting on the couch.

She interpreted his movement correctly, scooting herself closer to him, sliding her hands up to his neck, and his somehow found their way around her waist, the most complete and prolonged contact he could remember. Then he pulled back, eyes still closed; the spinning had migrated to his head and he was short of breath. He inhaled slowly, deeply, and his eyes fluttered open to see her, still only inches away, a small smile on her face. "Um," he said, feeling like _words_ were appropriate.

She put a finger to his lips. "Was that okay?" she asked gently.

She was asking not about the quality of her action, but the action itself, and he understood. "Yes," he said, giving a quick nod. Then, once again clearing his throat, he gave her a smile. "You understand. You just said it better than me."

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**Decided to go the chatty!Walter route here, since a) I love chatty!Walter and b) I felt it was in character enough for him given his running to Paige in 1.20 as well as other instances of him wanting to tell her about his feelings for her, like in 1.18 and 1.22. Hope you guys liked this!**


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